SECTION 8 STILL DOING GREAT

With the kids on Spring Break, we took a three day weekend in Wildwood. Today was beautiful. It was nice enough to ride our bikes to the lighthouse and take a nice four mile hike on the boardwalk. Easter Sunday’s weather was dreary so we did some bowling at the Wildwood Bowl and almost won a trivia competition at Owens Pub in North Wildwood while watching the Flyers make a dramatic comeback to keep their playoff hopes alive. Our four year ordeal regarding our defectively built deck is over. The new deck is awesome. There was virtually no noticeable damage from Sandy in Wildwood. I hope the deck work and Sandy didn’t inconvenience my Section 8 next door neighbors. They seem to be in good spirits. For newbies, these previous articles will bring you up to speed.

http://www.theburningplatform.com/?p=32788

http://www.theburningplatform.com/?p=18085

I have nothing personal against these people. They are fairly quiet. They did move my deck chairs into my garage before Sandy hit. They are there all year and keep an eye on the place. I do have a big problem with the asshole owner of the unit -Fat Pete. I’ve given him the name Fat Pete because he is a 350 pound scumbag that isn’t capable of climbing the steps to his unit.

Pete bought 3 of the 7 units in our condo pre-construction in 2002. He flipped two (one of them to me) at a nice profit and kept one for friends and family to use. He fancied himself a real estate mogul because his daddy owned one of the biggest blueberry farms in NJ and provided plenty of opportunity for Fat Pete. One problem. Petey found himself with 8 properties in Wildwood when the housing market collapsed. He mistook a bubble for intelligence and real estate savvy. After a couple years without being able to sell any of his properties he somehow managed to get the condo next door to me approved for Section 8 housing. It boggles my mind that a condo in a resort town, located 50 yards from the beach, can qualify for Section 8 housing.

Not only did Fat Pete single-handidly bring down the value of every condo in the complex with his brilliant strategic move, but he then rented it to white trash drug dealers who harassed our tenants all summer. After a number of us threatened him with bodily harm, he gave these tenants the boot and replaced them with the family unit that currently occupy the unit. We have a perfectly able mid fifties man who is not legally employed. He drives a nice pickup truck and appears to do some landscaping work for cash payments under the table. We have his rotund loud mouthed wife who tips the scales at about 275, and drives a newer model SUV with a handicap sticker. We have an ancient artifact grandmother with a walker, who likes to chat with us, but we can’t understand one word she says. There is also a slow-witted teenager who hardly ever leaves the condo. Then there are various “relatives” or acquaintances that come and go.

And now for the best part. Fat Pete, even though he’s been getting a monthly check from the Federal government for the last three years, hasn’t made his condo fee payment for the last four years. He is $7,000 in arrears. The other six owners had to pony up $3,000 apiece to cover the difference in the insurance payment for our deck repairs and the amount owed to the contractor. Fat Pete is taking $2,500 out of our pockets by not paying his fair share. I’ve tried to embarass his fatass with a sarcastic email copied to all the owners. He makes excuses for why he hasn’t paid. I don’t care. If this asshole ever shows up at the condo, I’ll stick my foot up his enormous ass.

As I said previously, I don’t personally have anything against my Section 8 neighbors. What I do have are questions. Questions that aren’t allowed to be asked in polite politically correct company. So I’ll ask them here:

  1. How can the Federal government subsidize Section 8 housing in resort communities?
  2. How much do the Obamanistas pay to Fat Pete and how much do the tenants pay?
  3. How many people in the condo are receiving SSDI payments?
  4. Is the 1st of the month their favorite day?
  5. When did being extremely fat qualify someone for handicap parking and SSDI?
  6. Did everyone in the condo vote for Obama in 2012?
  7. Would anyone in the condo ever seek a real wage paying job if it meant their welfare checks would stop?
  8. How does a family that can’t afford to rent an apartment, with no one working, afford two vehicles, cable TV, internet service, and cell phones?
  9. Do these people feel any shame and will they ever attempt to get off the dole?
  10. Does the able bodied man pay taxes on the cash payments he receives for doing landscaping?
  11. How long can this country subsidize such behavior on such a large scale?
  12. What will happen when the millions of entitlement recipients have their cashflow cut off when the system collapses?

In the meantime, Section 8 continues to do great.

 

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marissa
marissa

I was at the bus stop a couple of weeks ago and watched a very fat man in a wheel chair roll up to examine the bus schedule. While looking at him I thought it was very sad to be so fat and stuck in a wheel chair your whole life, and how lucky I am to be so well. His wheel chair was one of the fancy battery powered types with the joy stick controls and all sorts of electronically adjustable settings. These things cost many thousands, they are very expensive.

On the back of his chair he had strung and hung his grocery bags and all his other voluminous stuff, so that the whole shebang was of huge dimension, and I hoped he wasn’t waiting for my bus because I knew it would take forever for the bus to run out the wheel chair ramp, load this mess on, buckle him in place etc. etc. etc.

Just then HE GETS UP OUT OF THE WHEEL CHAIR, walks around the back of it to rearrange all his bags and jackets and umbrellas and crap, gets everything to his liking, and sits back down to wait for the bus.

I couldn’t believe my eyes! I’m sure he couldn’t have run a marathon race, but what the hell? This guy can walk pretty well and he’s wheeling around in this multi thousand dollar equipment that I’m pretty sure came from some government giveaway agency. fuck all

And the sad thing is how many old disabled people I see in rundown rickety wheelchairs–I mean people who don’t even have legs–and this fat guy is soaking the system for everything it’s worth.

I felt outraged. I’m still pissed.

Chicago999444
Chicago999444

It will be small comfort to you to know that Section 8 is thankfully being scaled back, though very incrementally. I know a Chicago landlord who owns a number of shacky houses on the south side who has to look harder every day for Section 8 qualified tenants. The waiting list for Section 8 qualification, for a tenant, is about 2 years from what I’ve heard, though I couldn’t verify that.

Section 8 was one of Nixon’s programs, meant to replace the ill-conceived federal housing projects that destroyed our cities in the 50s and 60s, at a much lower cost to the federal government. The program was designed to give poor recipients “choice” in housing and made it possible for landlords to charge above-market rents for their properties. It didn’t take long for Section 8 to absolutely destroy formerly pristine and often upper-class urban neighborhoods, because tenants with vouchers could move into luxury apartments and pay only a quarter of their incomes in rental payments, with the voucher making up the difference. Lower-middle and working-class people paying “market” rents could not compete with Section 8 payers in a “market” made by the government’s willingness to pony up any amount of rent. Section 8 tenants quickly moved into better apartment complexes and trashed them. I remember a prestigious old building in St Louis, a place on the West End with units that had 5 bedrooms, 3 large bathrooms, 12′ ceilings, walnut wainscoting, a crescent-shaped main elevator, and a freight elevator that opened directly into tenants’ kitchens, that was the first building in the city to rent to Section 8 tenants, because the landlord at that time in 1974 could get $50 a month more from voucher tenants than from “market-rate” tenants. Within a year the building was destroyed, and within 3 years, the surrounding neighborhood became a reeking slum with shootings and stabbings nearly every night.

The reason you see these people moving into prime housing is because said prime housing is mostly built with HUD loans, especially large apartment complexes. These luxury complexes were often built at times and in places where there was no market for them, as part of “urban renewal” or “local development” efforts. Well, landlords are not permitted to discriminate against tenants because of the source of income- you are not allowed to tell someone you will not rent to Section 8 tenants. I know a couple of landlords here in Chicago who’ve gotten into trouble doing that. Your only defense is to screen tenants rigorously, probably more strictly than you’d like.

Just one more government program that has destroyed cities and made housing more expensive for everyone, while benefitting only a relative handful of undeserving people.

Makati1
Makati1

“… What will happen when the millions of entitlement recipients have their cashflow cut off when the system collapses? …”

That is why I want to be in another country when it happens. I cannot imagine the explosion of violence and fear that will be unleashed. Most of these people are healthy or at least as able as you and I to get around and riot.

Americans use 40% of the world’s prescription drugs, most of which are antidepressants, and who knows how much illegal stuff for the same purpose, to avoid reality and its demands. Add in the flood of arms and ammo being purchased and you have the perfect formula for death and destruction on a scale seldom seen in history. The government knows. It is preparing for a war only this time is will be against it’s own citizens.

Hollow man
Hollow man

To answer mostbof thecquestions. No one cares. As long as they get theirs it is ok. Te last quesion. Buy some bullets for your guns.

Jackson, who likes some people and some neighbors, but not everyone,
Jackson, who likes some people and some neighbors, but not everyone,

Administrator,
Why the F— do you have a vacation place next to mud sill neighbors?
Sell the place. Get the F— out.
Buy a vacation property someplace in the hills where no one else, now, wants to go,
Get a place where you truly can get away.
It will do wonders for your peace of mind (and for a piece of your mind.)
A stream, a place to walk, and solitude…. that’s what you should look for.

Tator
Tator

You have my sympathies Admin.

Far warning to everyone, NEVER, EVERY buy a property you do not have complete control of its entirety. No condos, duplex…

My wife starting talking about a condo on the beach a few years back until I went through what kind of neighbors we could have, or the fees we could not control.

Better to be a half mile from the beach and own your place outright. You can not control your neighbors, but you can put up fences and such. And the only fees will be taxes (rent to the government)

ole guy
ole guy

Ahh the ole section 8 questions. I contract with HUD from time to time and let me explain how section 8 really works. Please bear with me I too totally disagree with the program and will explain it below.

FIRST you must understand a Section 8 renter cannot go out and rent any property they so desire. Fat Pete in your article went to the local section 8 administrator and signed his property up to be a section 8 property. This is the only way a sec 8 renter can rent said property. My guess from your story is he is broke and needs a steady stream of income because he is not selling his condo’s. REMEMBER this is the only way for a section 8 renter to rent the property. They cannot go out and just rent anything in their price range.

You as a property owner can and should call the sec 8 office and ask for a copy of the agreement and you will find they cannot have anyone else living there if they are not on the lease, period. They can have visitors but they cannot stay there period. Visits for a total of 14 days is I remember correctly. You have a right to turn that renter into the sec 8 office if they violate the rental agreement and they will be investigated and check and evicted if they are violating the agreement.

A lot of times we tend to blame the renters when originally the land owner or management agency
for multi-family sites went to the office and signed their property up for this. You have rights as well the problem is most blame section 8 renters and never learn about your rights. Section 8 is a rip off of the taxpayer a lot of times and a big scam where a family or single mother rents a place and everyone and their brother lives there. You and only you can stop this. If the section 8 administrator for your city or county does not know this is happening they cannot do anything to help you. So I ask you to head there as all agreements are public information.

Now a lease that is signed with a landlord is not public information. However you can read and take home an unsigned lease agreement so you can learn what can and cannot be done.

But remember that apartment or home cannot be leased to a section 8 family unless the landlord came in and allowed his property to be used in the section 8 program. This is a separate agreement prior to leasing any property to section 8 and is on file.

MuckAbout

Ha! A small word on Condo Associations and Home Owners Associations. Most of them suck big time because the lawyer that drew up the Association legal papers screwed it up.

We have an Association where I live – monthly fees and all (we’re buying the common areas from the developer right now). I helped write up the Association Bylaws and paper work way back when.

We have a nice clause therein that you agree too when you move into our wee community. If you don’t keep your property up to common sense standards OR FAIL TO PAY YOUR COMMUNITY FEES, we have a lawyer retained that just places a lean on the property, all expenses of which add to the lean, the Association pays what it must to see that the property is fully maintained and fees paid.

What it boils down to is that the Homeowners Association lean action prevents the owner from selling (or even renting) the home until the lean is satisfied and paid in full. Otherwise, we eventually end up owning the home, have our law dog take it to court and have deed transferred.. Then’d the Association would sell it and pocket all the bucks in the interests of the residents who keep up their end of the bargain.

We’ve never had to do that for some reason. But we could. And we would.

Also, where a lot of Associations fail is in the “fee” area. Our Association cannot raise any fees without a two thirds majority vote in favor of it by all the people who live here.. No one can arbitrarily raise the fees to accomplish a private agenda. If we need to raise money, we have to convince 2/3 of the residents that we need it. If not, tough..

Also, we make sure we have adequate contingency and reserve funds in line items in the budget. I’m on the Finance Committee and we watch it like a hawk.

We have a very active Association and a really great community (I’ve been here 15 years now and enjoy every day of it..) But it was set up right..

MA

Bostonbob

Section 8 spending;

“Decline in rescissions of unspent budget authority from previous years. From 1998 to 2009, Congress rescinded $1.8 billion in Section 8 funds per year, on average, mostly from original long-term PBRA contracts where the amount originally budgeted turned out to exceed the costs of the contracts. These rescissions reduced the amount of new budget authority required each year, but, for the most part, had no effect on actual program expenditures (i.e., on outlays). For various reasons, the pool of Section 8 funds available for rescission has shrunk considerably in recent years. As a result, while Congress rescinded $1.6 billion in Section 8 funds in 2005, the rescission amounts have been much smaller since then, and Congress rescinded no Section 8 funds in 2010 — the first year in more than a decade there was no rescission — or 2011. HUD has needed increases in budget authority in 2010 and 2011 to replace the budgetary room that was opened up in prior years by these rescissions, and thereby to sustain the available funding for the program and avoid cuts in the number of assisted families. The necessary increases in budget authority here, as well, have no effect on actual program spending levels.”
From “Center on Budget and Policy Priorities”
If I read this correctly Congress was “overbudgeting” by $1.6 billion for section 8, eight years ago. Now they do not have to rescind as much money because they have miraculously found a way to spend all of these “budgeted ” funds. If I build a budget for a project for our company and I over budgeted by nearly 10% knowing the past spending history and current trends I would not have my job for very long. What is best about this is that they can show that they have reigned in costs by not increasing the over budgeted costs as quickly by not having as much money rescinded. I love the budgeting logic of the government.
Another study layed out how the most of the increase in section 8 costs was caused by the overall increases in housing costs ie houses got really expensive. Do you think that by subsidizing housing thus creating more pressure housing doesn’t increase housing costs, as well as the fed policy of keeping interests rates artfically low among the dozens of other idiotic policies of the government. I know I am preaching to the choir, but these idiots could fuck up a free lunch. This will not end well.
Bob.

Chicago999444
Chicago999444

Admin, doesn’t your condo association go after owners who owe assessments and either get liens against their units, or foreclose? You might want to prod your association into taking action against this guy.

As a prospective condo buyer, I’m appalled when I see associations let owners run assessment arrears of thousands of dollars. The association should take action after 60 days at the most- assessment arrears in the thousands of $$$ shouldn’t be allowed to happen. I will not touch a building that has more than one unit deliquent on its assessments, or where a unit is more than 3 months delinquent. If you have enough units not paying, financing for purchases will become unavailable. Here in Chicago, several new high rise condos were blacklisted by lenders for financing because of the foreclosures and assessment arrears outstanding.

Mike, Admin's section 8 neighbor
Mike, Admin's section 8 neighbor

Yo Mr. Admin

ah don’ know what you complaining about. Why should we’s gots ta werk? Jobs is fo’ suckers, an’ paying taxes iz fo’ idiots. Yea, ah werk some landscaping, when ah git mastabatin an’ wants ta git away from muh motha fuckin bitching beotch, but tough sheeit. Go ahead an’ tell da authorities. Do you think dey’ll do anythin` ’boutit? dey’ll prob’ly increase our SNAP benefits.

we’s took another nice trip ta Atlantic City ta play some blackjack an’ slots. we’s love da buffets, all you can eat. It’s our god given right ta eat as much as we’s wants an’ git free housing. Disability be uh lifestyle, an’ you gots ta enjoy it as much as you can. Who cares if fat Pete iz defrauding da da system an’ yo’ condo association? Obama’s gots our back, an’ we’s be set fo’ life. So quit yo’ complaining an’ git back ta werk, you gots taxes ta pay. we’s love living at da beach year round, an’ we’s all git uh laugh when we’s think o’ you getting road rage while commuting an’ putting up wif some asshole boss at werk. America iz da bomb country, especially fo’ those who don’ wants ta werk an’ git all da benefits da system has ta offer slap mah fro!

eyeful
eyeful

Section 8. What a nightmare. No one who lives next to section 8 has a good experience.

When the freebies run out, expect these scumbags to be rioting in the streets.
I can only hope the government tracks all these freeloaders and has a plan to forcibly move all the freeloaders into those FEMA camps the conspiracy theorists all talk about.
Can you imagine a better way to identify the problem people ahead of time?
Figure out who is doing so poorly they can’t survive NOW, before the bad times really start, and take them away when the bad times DO start.
You could just turn the social security benefits office into a truck loading dock. They come in to sign up for more stuff at the free welfare store and you haul them away to Obame’s Summer Camp for Really Neat-O People Who Don’t Like to Work.

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